Written by: Anna Filatova, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Living in the 21st century with continuously evolving technology, our lives have become ever more demanding. With a lot of responsibilities, complex challenges that we face every day, and a lot of demands on our time and energy, it can become impossible to focus and think clearly.
The feeling that everything that is happening is outside of your control, can trigger stress, anxiety, and fear. It influences your ability to make decisions and take actions as your body reacts to any form of stress without distinguishing the difference between physical injury or lack of sleep and psychological stress trauma or limited thinking.
Feeling overwhelmed is a sign of stress and it might feel like you don’t have enough time to get things done. You might also feel like no one understands what you are going through but the reality is that you are not alone. Many people feel overwhelmed at some point in their lives.
Here are 10 tips that can help you deal with feeling overwhelmed:
1. Accept your feelings
Being able to accept how you are feeling is a form of self-acceptance and self-awareness. Your emotions tell you something and feeling this way is totally normal. It’s also important to recognize where the overwhelm is coming from and make some changes. Reflect on the areas of your life and activities that are causing you stress and explore if eliminating these activities might help to reduce overwhelm.
2. Practise regular self-care
Regular self-care can help to build resilience and cope with stressful situations when they arise. There are many different types of self-care that you can practice such as meditation, mindfulness, exercising, eating well-balanced and nutritious meals, getting good quality sleep, and doing things that you love and bring you joy.
3. Focus on the present moment
Focusing on being present can help with feeling less overwhelmed. Focus your time and energy on one thing or task at a time until it’s complete and accept when there is something that isn’t in your control and you can’t do anything about it.
4. Take some time off
Stepping away and taking some time off allows you to clear your mind, think more clearly, and re-charge your body. The more rested you are, the more relaxed and resilient to stress you will be. Taking time off has a positive impact on both your mental and physical health and overall wellbeing.
5. Spend some time with loved ones
Your family and friends are there for you to lean on. Make it a priority to connect with people you love or make new connections by joining interest groups or participating in activities that you are interested in.
6. Organize yourself
Organizing your day and planning ahead helps to have a clear direction and focus on activities and tasks that are important. If you don’t plan your day, others will do it for you by distracting you with their requests and asking for favors. Blocking time in the diary and sticking to your plan allows you to get things done. It’s better to finish all your planned tasks first and then do something extra than rush through your list and don’t manage to finish everything that you’ve planned and get overwhelmed in the process.
7. Work on setting boundaries
If you don’t set boundaries, you will always say yes to everything and get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that you’ve committed to. Learn to say no to others and only do things that you want to do rather than because someone else will benefit from you doing it. We all have 24 hours in a day and if we have too much going on, we will feel stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed. It’s important to set clear boundaries with your colleagues, friends, and even family so that they understand when they can reach you.
8. Prioritize
With so many responsibilities at work and in our personal lives, it might feel impossible to complete all the tasks on time. However, by cutting everything that should be done and focusing on the things that need to be done, you will be able to stay productive and efficient with your time and energy. Use the Pareto Principle or 80-20 rule that explains that 20% of our efforts will account for 80% of the result. So instead of trying to fit everything in, focus on the activities that will generate the most results.
9. Ditch your to-do list
Have you noticed that your to-do list is never empty? It’s because we will always have tasks and activities that need to be done on a daily or weekly basis. The longer the to-do list, the more overwhelmed you might feel. Instead of adding more items to your to-do list, ditch it and block time in your diary to complete each task instead. Only focus on important tasks and combine quick tasks together. I always say that if it’s not in my diary, it doesn’t exist.
10. Take action
Overwhelm can make you feel paralyzed both mentally and physically and take the ability to think clearly and take action. It might also lead to procrastination or wasting your time and energy on the tasks and activities that aren’t important. The best way to tackle overwhelm and break through the paralysis is to take action, make progress and build momentum. Even if it’s a tiny step, it’s worth taking it and then moving on to the next tiny step.
Anna Filatova, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Anna is the founder and CEO of Dreams and Beyond Coaching Ltd, a coaching and mentoring firm that was founded in March 2020. The company offers a variety of services including 1:1 coaching and mentoring, one day intensives, group programs, trainings, courses, workshops and DISC personality profiling. The services are available internationally as most of the work can be done online.
Anna believes that people are the most valuable asset of any business or organization and true success comes from finding the right balance and owning your inner power. Therefore, her work is heavily focused on people’s performance, development and wellbeing.
As a qualified Business and Executive Coach, Anna supports individuals to unlock their potential and make progress within their leadership roles in business and organizations without compromising on their personal wellbeing. She also helps develop high performing teams to support business and organizational growth.
Anna earned an Honours BA Degree in Business Studies in International Hotel Management from National University of Ireland Galway in 2011 and a MBA for Executives with Global Perspective from London School of Commerce in 2015.
Anna spent 9 years in Hotel Management and 7 years in Investment Banking. When she was 25, she had burnout that made her realize that health, well-being and work-life balance are more important than killing herself for a fast career progression.
Anna has written for Thrive Global and she is a Senior Executive Contributor to Brainz Magazine. She has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Intrado, Latestly, Entrepreneur Mogul and Zee5 News and invited as a guest speaker in Ireland and the UK. She has been nominated for the Women’s Business Awards 2021 (Category: Best New Business of the Year) and awarded the Brainz CREA Global Award 2021 in recognition for my creative and innovative ideas, and adaptability in business.
